Results
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The LIU Brooklyn men's 4x100-meter relay and 4x400-meter relay teams each set new school records while senior Brendon Rodney matched his own LIU mark in the 200-meter dash as the Blackbirds put together a tremendous showing at the NCAA East Preliminary Meet on Saturday. Rodney and the relay squads joined junior Mica-Jonathan Petit-Homme in earning trips to Eugene, Ore., for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on June 10-13.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Rodney, Tyler Cue, Tyquan Dukes and Mikhail Williamson was the first to compete on Saturday and won the first of three heats, defeating teams from the University of Alabama and Western Kentucky to claim an automatic berth into the national meet. The time of 39.40 shaved two-tenths of a second off the prior school record, which was set at the IC4A Championships on May 17.
Next up was Rodney's individual event, in which he has claimed All-America honors in each of the last two years. Running in lane seven in the third and final heat, the Toronto, Ontario product finished second, just behind LSU's Aaron Ernest, to clinch a trip to Oregon. Rodney's time of 20.27 was good for fifth at the regional meet and matched his school record set earlier this spring at Florida Relays.
In the final event of the evening, the 4x400-meter relay team of Rodney, Petit-Homme, Alistair McLean and Adam Walker-Khan was in the final group to take part in the event. Facing foes from Florida, Mississippi State and Alabama, the Blackbirds finished third ahead of the Crimson Tide and just behind the Bulldogs to book a flight to the Pacific Northwest. Petit-Homme and McLean gave LIU a lead heading into the final two legs of the relay, but the Gators made up ground over the final two trips around the track to earn the win.
Also competing as individuals were Walker-Khan and senior Amir Armstrong in the men's triple jump. Walker-Khan closed in 27th with a jump of 15.08m while Armstrong closed out his LIU Brooklyn career with a 38th-place showing at 14.75m. The lone woman to earn a spot at the regional meet was junior Kyaira Wright-Harmon, who narrowly missed a trip to Eugene with a tie for 18th place.